Swami Akhandananda as We Saw Him

By Advaita Ashrama (Ramakrishna Math)

Swami Akhandananda was one of the sixteen monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. He was one of the pillars of the Ramakrishna Movement’s service activities. He practised till the very end of his life his Master’s call: Worship jiva as Shiva. This book reminisces the inspiring saga of that adventurous monk who was wholeheartedly dedicated to the tireless service of God in man.

Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Advaita Ashrama (Ramakrishna Math)
• Release date: Aug 24, 2021
• ISBN: 8175052619

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SWAMI AKHANDANANDA

AS WE SAW HIM

Compiled (in Bengali) by

Swami Chetanananda

Translated by

Swami Swahananda

& Prasun De

(PUBLICATION HOUSE OF RAMAKRISHNA MATH )

5  DEHI  ENTALLY  ROAD  • KOLKATA 700 014

Published by

Swami Shuddhidananda

The Adhyaksha

Advaita Ashrama

P.O. Mayavati, Dt. Champawat

Uttarakhand -262524, India

from its Publication Department, Kolkata

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.advaitaashrama.org

© All Rights Reserved

First Print Edition, November 2004

First Reprint , January 2019

ISBN 978-81-7505-261-1 (Hardbound)

First ebook Edition, August 2021

Table of Contents

Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note For The Bengali Edition

Introduction

Tamas Ranjan Roy

Swami Omkareswarananda

Sri -

Swami Vasudevananda

Swami Jnanadananda

Swami -

An Attendant

A Sannyasi

Sri -

Swami -

From The Diary Of An Ashramite

Swami Annadananda

Swami Annadananda

SwamiAnnadananda

Swami Vireswarananda

Swami Jnanatmananda

Swami Akunthananda

A Devotee

Sri -

Kumud Bandhu Sen

Amulya Mukhopadhyay

Srimati Shanti Sen

Mahasamadhi

Appendix - Letters of Swami Akhandananda

PUBLISHER ’ S NOTE

This book is a translation of a Bengali work that was compiled by Swami Chetanananda and published by Udbodhan Office, Kolkata. The translation was done by Swami Swahananda and Mr. Prasun De, and edited by Swami Atmatattwananda, Pravrajika Shuddhatmaprana, and Lali Maly, with typing assistance by William Bergfeldt. Swami Bodhasarananda, Manager, Advaita Ashrama, also took great pains to prepare the manuscript for publication. We are thankful to all of them, and also to the head of Udbodhan Office for his permission to translate the book from the original Bengali. An Introduction by the compiler highlights the valuable features of this book. We believe the readers — especially the spiritual seekers — will be much benefited by this volume.

- PUBLISHER

3 August 2004

Kolkata

PUBLISHER ’ S NOTE

FOR THE BENGALI EDITION

Sri Ramakrishna, the great Incarnation and the undisputed leader of the spiritual empire, has showered his grace on devotees. And for this he brought with him his extraordinary all-renouncing disciples, who were themselves capable of making history and creating an awakening in human civilization and culture. One of these rare great souls was Swami Akhandananda, who was known as Swamiji’s ‘Ganges’. This loving soul was the first to put into practice the ideal of ‘serving jivas [living beings] as Shiva [the Lord]’, and was at the helm of the Ramakrishna Mission’s first service programme to the world. Thus he became a lamp to guide the world’s most ancient monastic tradition. At present almost all the Orders and communities of monks have accepted unhesitatingly the banner of service to humanity, thus honouring this great worker.

Swami Chetanananda, of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis in America, has compiled from various journals and books a unique collection of reminiscences and rare stories of this loving soul, who was devoted to truth. For this we are greatly indebted to him. If the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna are benefited even a little by reading these stories from this great life, we shall deem our labour a success.

Swami Akhandananda’s first Sevavrata at Khetri (Rajasthan), 1893-94

INTRODUCTION

THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY IS MADE BY THE lives and work of great people. Some of these people wrote their own autobiographies. Others talked about themselves to others, who recorded their words. Then, gathering all these remini-scences together, the life-story of the person was written. Regarding Swami Akhandananda, he himself wrote about his wonderful travels, and he also talked to monks and devotees at different times regarding his life. The present book, Swami Akhandananda as We Saw Him, is a collection of the reminiscences preserved by various monks and devotees.

Included in this collection are Swami Akhandananda’s memories of Sri Ramakrishna, incidents in the divine life of Swami Vivekananda, stories of Swami Akhandananda’s own struggles and successes, plus accounts of his courageous travels. This book contains inspiration for building up one’s character, advice on how to apply Vedanta in practical life, signs of spiritual life, and the method of worshipping God in human beings. Moreover, the book is filled with details of the early history of the Ramakrishna Order.

Though penniless, this monk had a great heart and was the pioneer ambassador of the Ramakrishna Mission. He began his vow of service during his days of wandering. Then on 1 May 1897 Swamiji inaugurated the Ramakrishna Mission, and on 15 May Swami Akhandananda opened a relief centre in the Chandi mandap of Mrityunjay Bhattacharya of Kedar-Mahula in Murshidabad to save people from an all-devouring famine. Though rice was difficult to procure at that time, he managed to procure some with the help of other people and with much trouble. Then he distributed it equally among the poor, weighing the rice himself on a scale. This was the first public service work done by the Ramakrishna Mission.

Swami Akhandananda, a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, now became ‘Baba’ (father) and ‘Dandi Thakur’ (a respected monk with a staff). But in the words of Swami Abhedananda, he was a ‘patriot, statesman, and philanthropist’. When we hear about this all-renouncing, pure, loving, scholarly, idealistic monk, who was devoted to truth, our weak minds are filled with great inspiration, our hearts are deeply stirred, and our inner strength becomes manifest. The following verse from a scripture expresses Swami Akhandananda’s heart-felt ideal:

Ko nū na syādupāyo'tra yenāham sarvadehinām;

Antaḥ praviśya satatam bhaveyam duhkhabhārabhāk —

‘In this world, what is the way by which I can enter the bodies of all suffering creatures and always undergo their sufferings myself ?’

This collection of reminiscences has come out for the Bengali New Year. My sincere hope is that people will be benefited by reading this volume.

- CHETANANANDA

Saint Louis

15 April 1998

SWAMI AKHANDANANDA

( TAMAS RANJAN ROY )

ON AN AUSPICIOUS DAY IN THE YEAR 1864, Gangadhar (Swami Akhandananda) was born in an aristocratic Ghatak family, who lived in the Ahiritola area of the city of Kolkata. Gangadhar Maharaj, so far as we know, did not receive any greater welcome for seeing the first light of day than any newborn child born in an ordinary well-to-do family would have received. We are not even aware if anyone then noticed any indication of the wonderful spiritual awakening that would manifest in him in later years. We have heard that the boy grew up normally and passed his childhood days playing and merrymaking like any other boy. It is possible that an inherent but dormant intuition might have given him a warning from time to time. In the sun-scorched afternoon of any day, while watching the horizon at a distance, the mind of the young boy would, perhaps, become oblivious of the bondage of the world, and this physical world might have appeared to him a foreign land. Or, some divine child, traversing secretly through the solemn, contemplative atmosphere on a calm and serene night, just by chance might have happened to whisper in the ear of the sleeping child a call from some world beyond the realm of sense perception, and the boy might have suddenly awakened from his sleep. Or, nothing such ever happened — all this being the product of our unnecessary wild imagination! Actually, an attempt to know and understand the extraordinary with the yardstick of the ordinary, leads, in most cases, to failure. As he grew up, Gangadhar’s inherent firm faith in the rituals of his brahmin family caused him to find fascination in taking three baths a day, in worshipping God, in silent repetition of prayers, and in other such rituals. No doubt it is true that we see in him the sinless simplicity that is typical of every child, but Gangadhar was the personification of the guileless child. Further, this charismatic childlike simplicity ever remained an outstanding trait of his character. His simplicity, which was manifest in everything he did and in all his thoughts, specially endeared him to everyone and made him an object of reverence.

At the age of fourteen, young Gangadhar, as if through the grace of providence, had his first meeting with the Master [Sri Ramakrishna] at the house of the famous attorney Dinanath Basu. A close friend of his childhood days, Harinath, who in later years became known as Swami Turiyananda, was also with him on that day. On the day of that first meeting, how the Master received that sinless boy — whether he bestowed on him anything other than his natural affectionate touch, and what transpired that day — we have no way of knowing, as such a long span of time has passed. Only the events of later days prompt us to the strong conclusion that the one felt especially attracted to the other. In addition to that, even the natural Bengali alliteration between ‘Gadadhar’ [Master’s name as a child] and ‘Gangadhar’ awakens in us a curiosity to trace out an obvious relationship of father and son from those two names.

The first meeting between the extraordinary guru and his marked disciple did not take place in any temple or religious place but in the house of an ordinary householder devotee. We have heard that nearly two years after this first meeting, Gangadhar secretly left home with a sannyasin from the Western Province. However, that was for only a short period. The climate of Bengal and his affection for his parents prompted him to return to Kolkata within a short time. Right after that he started visiting the Master at Dakshineswar. In course of time, Master’s exceptional love and affection and his immaculate life captured the heart of this simple boy. Soon after this, advised by the Master himself, he was introduced to Swami Vivekananda. The Master used to say, ‘The mistress of the house knows which lid fits which pot.’ Thus, it is obvious that he kept a sharp eye on the young devotees and could understand who were similar in nature. He then lost no time in introducing them to one another. Gangadhar Maharaj considered it a momentous incident in his life when he was introduced to Narendranath. In fact, although he accepted Master as his Lord and Chosen Deity for worship, on the harsh and razor sharp path of karma and spiritual life, it was Swamiji who was Gangadhar’s actual guide and helper. Being at once a compliant disciple, attendant, friend, and brother, his life’s delight and mission was to guard Swamiji’s legacy.

When Swamiji, in the garb of a destitute and unknown pilgrim, was wandering around India from one place of pilgrimage to another, he kept his whereabouts a secret even from his brother disciples and tried to immerse himself in the vast labyrinth of humanity in India. For a long time, he could not persuade Gangadhar Maharaj to leave him. Swamiji himself used to remark, ‘I made everyone leave me, but with Gangadhar I have failed.’ Gangadhar begged in the streets to feed Swamiji, and he carried books from the library to facilitate Swamiji’s reading. He tried to the best of his ability to serve him. Till then these were the most gratifying and satisfying achievements of his life. Undoubtedly in his childhood days, when the incomparable and affectionate form of the Master appeared for the first time before the alert and receptive mind of Gangadhar, the young boy unknowingly installed the great soul on his mind’s golden throne. In the same manner, as soon as he met Swamiji, he immediately placed him with great earnestness on one corner of that throne. Thus, the lifelong endeavour of this person was to emulate the unique lives of the Master and Vivekananda. On one hand, he remained engaged till the last days of his life in dedicating himself to the mission of service introduced by Swamiji as the ideal way to serve humanity, and on the other, similarly emulating the Master, he established his permanent residence in an unknown and remote village of Bengal, far away from the din and bustle of the city, in order to remain engrossed in his own thoughts. The isolation and peaceful atmosphere of spiritual life attracted his entire consciousness, yet he was also ever eager to sympathize with the destitute children, and his loving nature was always keen on remaining near them. We are aware that he was asked many times to leave his village centre at Sargachhi and live at Belur Math, but he could never entertain such requests. The deep bond of affection that was established between him and the helpless destitute boys of Sargachhi was not easy for him to give up. In fact, religion and service, the two ideals in the lives of the Master and Swami Vivekananda, achieved a superb and harmonious balance in the mind and body of Gangadhar Maharaj.

Shortly after his meeting with the Master, Gangadhar Maharaj left school. The effect of the Master’s holy company and his blessings created in him a total lack of concern for all worldly affairs. Further, Narendranath’s powerful exhortations also made a great impact and greatly inspired Gangadhar Maharaj, prompting him ultimately to embrace, with dedicated determination, the great mission of total self-sacrifice for the Divine.

Thus, those teenage years passed in great enjoyment. But dark days were waiting in the garden house at Cossipore. All of a sudden, the Master left the mortal world, placing before the young disciples — Narendranath, Rakhal Chandra, and others — the ideal of his great life. But Master had shown them how to embrace that life fearlessly with the whole body, mind, and soul. These homeless young men, with no worldly resources, then took shelter in a haunted house in Baranagore and later in another house in Alambazar. There they lighted a fire of sadhana whose flame touched heaven, and into that flame they offered up everything. It has been recorded how, day after day and month after month, they remained unfed or half-fed and passed sleepless nights. Subjecting themselves thus to insufferable mental and physical hardships, they ultimately realized the noble and liberal path of knowledge and peace. Then, salvaging religion from the clutches of academic narrowness and communal bondage, they ultimately made religion compatible with the scientific age of the twentieth century by injecting new life into it. We do not wish to repeat that story here. We just want to mention that in those days Narendranath, Rakhal Chandra, and other uncompromising fearless youths ignored the advice of relatives and friends, and fortifying themselves with the holy memories of the Master, they delved into the ocean of sadhana to explore and salvage priceless treasures as yet unknown and unseen. Also, to usher in a new age, the life-giving mantra of India’s future was being awakened in that haunted house at Baranagore by the severe sacrifices and rigorous austerities of the monks — and the teenage Gangadhar was among them, fully participating with utmost sincerity. Meditating, repeating God’s name day and night, discussing the scriptures, singing kirtan and religious songs — all the rigorous disciplines that Swamiji and the others practised, Gangadhar Maharaj did too. We have heard that on one occasion discussions on Buddhist scriptures were going on continuously in the Math. Hearing Swamiji’s fiery discussions on the subject, Gangadhar Maharaj developed a strong desire to visit Tibet. Then one day the young monk, barefoot and in the robe of a wandering monk, set out for that beautiful and unfamiliar kingdom of the lamas. At that time he was quite young.

Before him, Raja Rammohan Roy was probably the only one who had travelled to Tibet at such a young age. (1) Gangadhar Maharaj spent nearly three years in Tibet, and he took immense care to become familiar with the minutest details of their language, religion, customs, and manners. Later, his rich and valuable reminiscences of those three years were published serially in the Udbodhan as ‘Three Years in Tibet’. The charm and purity of his language and the descriptions of the various incidents and experiences directly seen or heard — all these attracted the readers. Unfortunately, the writer put down his pen leaving the articles incomplete, and those that were complete, were not published in a book-form. (2)

After spending nearly three years in Tibet and in adjoining places, Gangadhar Maharaj suddenly returned to the Baranagore Math. He stayed there for some time and then again moved about as a wandering monk. We have already mentioned that, on many occasions Gangadhar Maharaj accompanied Swamiji during his travels in India. In the stretches of desert in Rajputana, through the inaccessible tracts of the Himalayas, on desolate paths in the woods of the Vindhyas, in Gujarat, Mumbai, the Central Province, and other regions of India, Gangadhar Maharaj travelled by foot, following the paths previously traversed by other Indian seekers, and tried to familiarize himself with the cultures and traditions of the vast country. Experiences gathered on each day of his travels vastly enriched his store of knowledge and at the same time taught the hard lesson of how to remain steadfast under all circumstances. When he was in Gujarat, a woman tried to kill him by poisoning. Only through the will of God did he survive. In the same province, while passing through a famine-stricken village, he was captured by bandits. The entire day his hands and feet were tied to a tree. Taking pity on him, that evening the leader of the bandits released him.

He also spent quite a few days in Khetri. There he endeavoured to make provisions for the education of the servants and people of other downtrodden communities in Rajputana. But he could not succeed in his attempt due to opposition from the royal families and hereditary aristocrats who solely enjoyed the privileges of society. Even in Udaipur and other places he was much moved by the condition of the poor and destitute. As a matter of fact, his genuine empathy for those who were rejected by their communities was as easy and natural to him as breathing. This must have been why it was natural for him to pioneer Swamiji’s mission of service to humanity. Thus to him it was natural and desirable to concentrate all his energy on removing the wants and needs of destitute boys in a remote village in Murshidabad.

It was not possible for us to know in detail the accounts of the wanderings of the other sons of the Master, and the same thing may be said regarding Gangadhar Maharaj. Only from accounts of stories told by the brother disciples on rare occasions during conversations amongst themselves is it possible for us to know something about them. But many noticed that Gangadhar Maharaj had a great attraction for pilgrimage, and this attraction lasted even during his later years. When young men like us had the chance to meet him, he was quite old. In spite of this, the young men who gathered around him were encouraged to set out to explore this vast land of India. He used to say, ‘When I roamed about as a wandering monk in different areas, every day I enjoyed such a wonderful state of mind. My spirited and unattached mind remained absorbed in new experiences day after day. I have now become old, yet I still feel invigorated by those old days. I wish very much that all of you would set out on such a journey. If you travel around the whole of India, you will gain much more knowledge than you could ever get by reading books for years. Vitality decreases with age and then travel is no longer possible. Therefore, so long as you have the energy, utilize the time to travel.’

Gangadhar Maharaj’s life was easy, simple, and unostentatious, and it always flowed silently in the direction indicated by his guru. Peace and bliss radiated from his body and mind at all times. Those who had the good fortune to meet him realized that waves of bliss flowed from an inexhaustible source deep within his heart. Then, flowing naturally along the normal path, these waves of bliss not only kept him always immersed but also affected everyone who gathered around him. It was while travelling around that he arrived at Sargachhi in Murshidabad in the middle of his life. There, seeing the plight of the famine-stricken people, he was so moved that he decided to dedicate himself to serving them, and he remained steadfast in this mission till the last day of his life. His aim in life was to follow the path chalked out by the Master and Swami Vivekananda in a calm and steady manner, unnoticed by the eyes of the public. For him the fundamental principle of all service to humanity was to be ever vigilant to wipe the tears from others’ eyes. On numerous occasions Swami Vivekananda showered copious praise on his fearless and selfless initiative. Many of Swamiji’s letters written from Europe and America refer to Gangadhar Maharaj.

Gangadhar Maharaj’s sincere love for each of his brother disciples was striking. Whoever witnessed the painful look in the eyes of this self-effacing sannyasin stricken with grief on the terrible day when Revered Swami Saradananda Maharaj passed away must have the scene imprinted in his mind forever. In the history of the world’s religious communities, it is not rare to come across clashes within sects, yet such a dark shadow could never touch Gangadhar Maharaj. He always remained completely immersed in an unfathomable inner bliss. He had no time at